Brands Knowingly Fail Users

Posted on 2.18.2013

With all the talk about user experience - optimizing for it,
designing for it, etc. - more than 60 percent of brand owners still freely
admit to offering their online users only an average or below-average digital
experience.

This finding, from WhatUsersDo's User Experience Survey
report, could have a number of different implications. It does not mean,
however, that brands are not committed to delivering the best possible online
user experience. The research found that eight of 10 (78 percent) of companies
were "extremely" or "quite" committed to delivering the best possibly user
experience. This large percentage makes sense, especially when 93 percent of
respondents believe that optimizing the user experience will improve
conversions. The problem, however, seems to be in the execution.

"The digital landscape is changing faster than it ever has and is becoming more
complex," said Lee Duddell, head of user experience and founder of user-testing
company WhatUsersDo. "Companies are grappling with not only how they can
improve user experience, but also how they find the budget, get board buy-in,
embed it into their processes and prove the ROI."

Many of the brands are failing in one key area - testing. Only 55 percent actually
conducted any user-experience testing, with 39 percent of these only conducting
it on major releases.

"Even though the majority of companies are committed to offering the best possible
user experience, it appears that the approach taken to user experience is
reactive and based on hunches, rather than a planned approach to testing that
begins at the start and continues throughout any improvement project," said Econsultancy
Senior Research Analyst, Andrew Warren-Payne.

For 100-plus tips, tactics and tools for optimizing websites, check out Website Magazine's February feature article.